This assessment has even more interest as the UK Mental Health Awareness Week is currently taking place. Over the last few years, the mental health topic, and the importance to address it, has gained momentum, especially in the workplace.
As a result, it has been possible to see a lot of service offers coming through, services which can take the form of counselling on site, technology app, or internal training.
All in all, it seems that Mental health is becoming an issue which is taken more and more seriously, even if a lot of people are still seeing it as a gimmick.
However, This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is taking place while full measures on how to get out of the lockdown are being discussed, making this discussion even more interesting.
Therefore, there is certainly an interest in assessing the impact of the Lockdown on the society as a whole.
Before we move the discussion further, it is important to note that every charity, dealing with mental health issues are reporting an increase in received enquiries and/or raised issues.
What we believe brings even more interest to the discussion is that:
- A lot of the reported issues seems to be the first episod reported by a lot of individuals, as per the Guardian in their artcicle dated 16th of May 2020.
- Those concerns seem to be widespread across countries, as reported in a article in in the French Newspaper Le Figaro
With the lockdown, a new set of restrictions or obligations have appeared:
- Limited possibilities of movement (No access to workplace, No weekend getaways….)
- Limited possibilities of ways to exercise (No access to gyms, swimming pools….)
- Increased time with the same people (Kids, partners, Housemates…)
- Home schooling
- Homeworking
Add to the above points the financial stress, the impact due to the impossibility to deal with ill elderly relatives, and the fact that it is an extraordinary situation that none of us could even thought about it, it is no surprise that a lot of people are reporting mental health issues.
To summarise the above, we have seen during the same period
- An increase of the pressure added to every individual
- A reduction in the possible ways of escaping,
The end result : it is harder to deal with the pressure.
In normal times, most individuals would deal with the increased stress by
- “Changing scenery”, by going to work, or going to a local shop, or even taking a break (weekend, holiday..)
- Socialising with friends and/or colleagues
- Practising exercises
With the current situation, and the subsequent uncertainties, such as not knowing if summer holidays are even a possibility, … a lot of pressure is being put on individuals.
It is particulary interesting as well to see that the youngers generation are more likely to report or suffer from Mental Health issues, than the eldest, as reported by The Independent . All in all, it seems that for a lot of people we are reaching the “Bursting point”.
This is why, at this particular time, it is important for companies to look at the psychological mindset of their staff. But in our opinion, they should aslo focus on the following points:
- The amount of employees reporting Health issues (and we can be certain that the number is under-estimated)
- The impact of the lockdown on both physical and physiological health, in addition to Mental health issues
For companies, it seems especially important to take those two considerations into account to avoid further complications.For the second consideration, it is important to remember that an individual health is linked to the following three pillars: Physiological, Physical, Psychological ” the 3 P’s” .
On this note, it is important to mention that the connection between the “3 P’s” is nothing new, as the Romans were already linking Physical and Mental Health, as the old latin adage says “Mens sana in corpore Sano".
As we are still in the Lockdown transition process, it is easy to think that people are still in a “survival mode” . But as some press articles or surveys are starting to mention it, the “Lockdown get-out” period will be the complicated situation, with a potential explosion of issues. Issues which were overlooked during the Lockdown period, with the risk for companies to see an increase in people taking time off (for example, the rise in staff absence due to mental-health issues).
To make the situation even clearer, let’s compare the actual situation to scuba-diving, where you dive down in one go, but must come back up through steps, or you put your life at risk.
To go back to companies, it will be only by making sure that a/ they are not going back to their old ways b/ they are not rushing their Lockdown get-out process that they will avoid big risks when it comes to staff Mental Health issues.
There is no doubt, the lockdown period, would have been used for a lot of us, as a period to reflect on our life aspirations and priorities. This is why, we believe it is paramount that companies acknowledge the importance that any subject around Staff Health is likely to become the top priortity for a lot of individuals, following the Lockdown. And subsequently, it is important that any action directed at addressing Mental Health issues is done through a holistic (global) approach, resulting in all aspects of the Health “3 P’s” to be covered.
As a software company offering a solution to improve Wellbeing @ Work, our approach is to improve the physical health through improved ergonomics.
Our solution will allow your employee to be informed and trained on the physical risks he faced at work but can also be used to report mental health issues, or physiological issues.
Three issues companies will have to deal with in the future when it comes to looking after their workforce, and ultimately themselves.
Through its software solution, Agilea offer you the possibility of improving your Wellbeing@work strategy, by addressing the three pillars of health (“3 P’s”), through an improved ergonomic approach of your work environment.
Our solution will not only allow your employee to be informed and trained on the physical risks he faces, in the context of his professional activity, but it will also allow you to deal with mental or physiological health problems, an approach of the occupational health problem.
These three problems that companies are sure to face in the future, in their relationships with their employees.
Last but not least, it will ensure your company to fulfill its legal obligations, in what promised to be an ever-changing landscape.
So, if you want to know more, do get in touch with our sales team to see how we can help your company
#Stay Safe # Stay Kind